‘Bou hoo — Thrill of the chase, sting of a thief in newly opened Fox River hunt

By Joseph Robertia

Photos courtesy of Marcus Mueller and John Hedges. John Hedges, of Soldotna, hikes across the tundra above Tustumena Lake with Truuli Glacier in the background during a caribou hunt with Marcus Mueller this fall. Mueller, of Kenai, drew one of only 10 permits issued this year by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for the Fox River caribou herd.

Redoubt Reporter

Hunting is about so much more than killing an animal. It is about leaving a land of clean shaves, pressed attire, business meetings and punctual appointments. It is about escape from the routines and roles of daily life — employee, spouse or parent.

All of these are temporarily traded for the hope of having a significant life experience. One developed from bonding with other like-minded hunters, while also intrinsically exploring oneself, and not just living in, but becoming a part of, the natural world. At least, that is what a recent caribou hunt was for Marcus Mueller, of Kenai.

“This was so much more than a meat run,” he said. “It was an exploratory getaway filled with camaraderie. It turned out to be a great adventure. Around every corner was something unexpected.”

His words are particularly underscored by the uncharted nature of his fall hunt this year. Every hunt is different from the last, but Mueller was one of only 10 hunters drawn to hunt the Fox River caribou herd. Primarily residing in the pristine and rugged area from the mouth of the Fox River to the south of Tustumena Glacier, this herd was down to around 20 animals at one point, but now is up to around 65 to 70 animals, so for the first time since 2003 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game allocated 10 permits to this region.

“We got into all new, undiscovered country for us,” Mueller said.

Hunting is challenging enough, but hunting in an entirely new area adds more difficulty than just heading out to the same tree stand year after year. Mueller knew he and hunting buddy John Hedges, of Soldotna, had a lot of work ahead of them before ever venturing into the field.

“I knew it was on the peninsula, but no other logistics,” he said. “I got maps of the area, went by Fish and Game, and tried to talk to anyone with knowledge of that country. I got all the info I could and it all pointed to the same thing — there was no easy access to get into this area.”

Hiring housing hassles — International workers can bring employers headaches with help

Editor’s note: This is part three in a series of stories examining J-1 student visa workers on the Kenai Peninsula.

By Jenny Neyman

Redoubt Reporter

As advertised, the J-1 student visa program is a win-win for everyone involved.

International university students get to spend a summer in the United States, seeing the sights, experiencing the culture and improving their English while making enough working to cover their living and travel expenses. Employers tap into an eager, prearranged labor source, especially helpful during increased seasonal workforce demands. International exchange sponsor agencies get a $3,000 to $6,000 fee from each student to arrange the visa paperwork, facilitate the exchange process and play matchmaker between employers and students.

As with most things sounding too good to be true, those involved say the J-1 program in practice isn’t as idyllic as the theory.

On the Kenai Peninsula, J-1 international students work a variety of entry-level, general labor jobs, primarily at seafood processing plants and fast-food restaurants. Employers say they can be a benefit during the busy summer season.

Salamatof Seafoods typically employs about 20 J-1 student workers a summer, most often from Kazakhstan and Turkey.

“The benefit is they are available to work all the hours that we need them for. Basically they’re just up here to work, we can count on them to be here for the whole season and they’re usually eager to work all the hours we need them for,” said Anna Evanson, office assistant.

With the record-breaking sockeye salmon run this summer, Evanson said Salamatof had a hard time finding enough workers, even with the J-1 students, which makes them particularly useful in busy years. Language and cultural differences can be a bit of a barrier, but overall the students are good workers.

“The biggest challenge is most don’t speak English so it can be hard to communicate with them, and they’re from totally different places and may do things totally different. They’re really good workers and really eager to put in the hours, even when they work 16-hour days,” Evanson said.

Money trail follows mayor hopefuls — Borough candidates face last-minute decisions in reaching voters

By Naomi Klouda

Photo courtesy of Homer Tribune. Borough mayor candidates participate in a voters forum recently. From left are Mike Navarre, Dale Bagley, Fred Sturman, Debbie Brown and Gary Superman. Not pictured is Tim O’Brien.

Homer Tribune

The last two weeks toward the 2011 Kenai Peninsula Borough election indicates support lining up from diverse places and a campaign money trail showing interest from Anchorage.

Mike Navarre stands as the front runner in fundraising, raising $27,999.12 as of the last Alaska Public Offices Commission filing. He had $15,746.35 remaining.

Navarre is getting support from heavy hitters, like the teachers union for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, Democrat politicians, such as former Gov. Bill Sheffield who threw him a fundraiser that netted thousands of dollars, and industry campaign contributions from Shell Oil and the Pebble Partnership.

“I’ve built up a lot of relationships over the years — personally, professionally, in business and in politics. I’m getting it from a lot of different areas,” Navarre said. “I’ve received money from people in favor of Pebble, and I’ve received money from people opposed to Pebble.”

APOC reports show Navarre received donations from Cook InletKeeper and from the Pebble Partnership, for example.

“They know they will get a fair, objective, responsible decision-making process,” Navarre said.

Many of the addresses on Navarre’s APOC disclosures indicate money from Anchorage. Does this mean Anchorage movers care what develops on the peninsula?

“Many (of my contributors) have land or own a business interest in peninsula businesses. Some are family friends who grew up on the peninsula and moved to Anchorage, and some are just business and personal relationships that I developed in politics and business,” Navarre said.

Yet, Anchorage leaders do tend to be interested in Kenai Peninsula politics, Navarre said.

“You bet they are. Our economy is tied to the rest of Alaska,” he said.

Dale Bagley isn’t far behind Navarre, having raised just over  $22,000. Many of his contributions are arriving in $50, $75 and $100 increments, which means numerous individuals are donating to his campaign. He has not received the endorsement of any groups, and said he has not sought any, except for the Board of Realtors. A look at his campaign contributors show several borough employees, school teachers, nurses, real estate agents, construction companies and commercial fishermen.

“These are people I know and people who have supported me over the years when I ran for office and they are hoping to see me get in there again,” Bagley said.

Falling for a good ride — Randonneurs roll through central Kenai Peninsula

By Joseph Robertia

Photos by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. Chuck Mangold, of Anchorage, waves to a motorist as he passes through one of the more colorful portions of the Kasilof leg of the Kenai Backroads 200-kilometer bicycling event hosted by the Alaska Randonneurs on Saturday.

Redoubt Reporter

Autumn can be a wonderful time to immerse oneself in nature’s magnitude. On Saturday, several bicyclers from across the state let their cares drop away like the falling golden leaves during a 200-kilometer trip around the central Kenai Peninsula.

“It’s been so beautiful. It should really be called the ‘fall colors ride,’” said Jim Kaszuba, of Chugiak, one of 18 riders taking part in the Kenai Backroads 20 hosted by the Alaska Randonneurs.

Randonneuring — French for rambling — is a style of self-supported, long-distance cycling that emphasizes camaraderie over competition. There are no prizes for first place, as in a race. But the events are timed to allow participants to challenge themselves, whether conditioning for commuting to work by bicycle or training for a competition like a triathlon. This weekend’s ride was allotted 13.5 hours.

“Whether a tourist or a racer, there’s a place for everyone in randonneuring,” said event coordinator Kevin Turinsky, of Anchorage. “Every event is set up for people to run hard, or take a few stops along the way to eat a burger or get a drink.”

Common Ground: Hunting for balance off the mat

By Christine Cunningham, for the Redoubt Reporter

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sound of loons calling seemed out of place. It was the

Photo courtesy of Christine Cunningham. Jack the chocolate Lab demonstrates some yoga of his own, in a downward dog pose.

first waterfowl opener that I didn’t spend on the Kenai Flats. I missed the swamp smell and the feel of a tidal force draining around my waders. The flats are a part of what waterfowling means to me, and those first days of discovery — the days I wondered what in the hell I was doing — didn’t happen on a calm lake. My hunting partner was still sipping his coffee from a Thermos lid beside me, but it wasn’t the same miserable morning I was used to.

“You look miserable,” he said.

It was because I wasn’t miserable enough.

Almanac: Bare bones history — Emerging fossil record offers hints to big wildlife of the past

Editor’s note: This story concerning mammoths on the Kenai Peninsula is a follow-up to the two-part article that appeared Sept. 7 and Sept. 14 in the Redoubt Reporter.

By Clark Fair

Photo courtesy of Richard D. Reger, Ph.D.. This portion of a mammoth tusk is one of 11 mammoth “elements” discovered on the southern Kenai Peninsula.

Redoubt Reporter

The flood of 2002 changed everything.

And in wreaking such change, the flood revealed what has thus far been the most important piece in an intriguing archaeological and geological puzzle — the existence of mammoths on the Kenai Peninsula.

Prior to the flood, Phil Gordon, of Homer, had been “putzing around” up Deep Creek for years, fighting through a mass of vegetation that he referred to as “a stinking jungle, all full of bears and brush and barely passable.”

After the flood, however, the whole lower Deep Creek area opened up.

“It changed the river and topography enormously,” Gordon said. “It was a veritable freeway.”

Usually, Gordon trekked upstream with a friend, typically on a fishing excursion. Such was the case in the late summer after the flood.

“My buddy and I were fishing for dollies,” Gordon said. “He is a great fisherman, but I am sort of an indifferent fisherman. It’s a good excuse to go, but if I don’t catch anything it can be every bit as good. He’s busy casting and fishing and changing lures and trying flies, and I’m busy seeing what I can see.”

Gordon said he found, “A variety of bear bones, a number of moose antlers and a huge variety of things that had been unearthed by that enormous flood,” and he delighted in the search at the expense of the fishing.

“I was just happy, happy, happy,” he said. “I walked across a bit of a sandbar, and there was just about 4 inches of the midpart of the tusk showing. It’s brownish and it looks like wood, but there was something about it that arrested my gaze, so I stopped and walked back.

“I often do this. I’m not great at making miles and miles and miles. I used to run everywhere, but these days I spend a lot more time just looking around. So I dug it out. It’s not a monster. It’s not the whole tusk, certainly not the whole mammoth, but it was a hoot to find because I had a pretty good idea what it was.”

U2 can improve your business — Expo attendance has unexpected bonus

By Jenny Neyman

Photo courtesy of Gena Stahlecker. Gena Stahlecker, of Soldotna, center, and her daughter, Dana Jenkins, pose for a photo with Bono and The Edge from U2 while attending an exposition in Nashville this summer.

Redoubt Reporter

It’s a fairly reliable assumption for most folks from Soldotna that whatever conference they may be attending, the members of Irish rock band U2 will not.

At least, that’s what Gena Stahlecker would have thought. Turns out — with photo evidence to prove it — that assumption is not the case.

Stahlecker was attending the National Association of Music Merchants summer trade show in Nashville, Tenn., in July. This is the first such event she’s visited since she and her husband, Scott Stahlecker, bought the Music Box in Soldotna four years ago.

“It’s for dealers in the line of musical instruments — what’s new, what’s coming out. They have equipment reps — the ones always trying to call and sell you things. They have demonstrations and just huge displays. All the musical instrument dealers are there, like Voss and Fender and Martin, and all the people that sell anything related to music,” she said.

There’s an annual summer NAMM expo and an even bigger winter event in Los Angeles in January. This is the first time Stahlecker has had enough time free to be able to go and she was impressed with the size and scope of the summer event, even with it being the smaller of the two.

Musicians performed throughout the expo, as background music for meals or during presentations, primarily. Most were regional bands Stahlecker had never heard of. The biggest act she saw on the performance lineup was the British rock band Supertramp, best known for their hits “Give a Little Bit,” “Take the Long Way Home” and “Bloody Well Right.” Not being a particular fan, she doesn’t remember if those songs were in their set list.

Instrument manufacturers demo various signature models at the NAMM expos and will occasionally get the musician to stop by for photo ops and signings — like the Taylor Swift guitar, Stahlecker said.

But Bono of U2, or someone similarly famous? Not likely.

And yet.

Say it with a stove — Love can be expressed in many practical forms

Hunting, Fishing and Other Grounds for Divorce, by Jacki Michels, for the Redoubt Reporter

It’s finally happened. We’ve arrived at that place many longtimers politely refer to as “practical.” For the record, I did not gracefully cooperate with the process of becoming unromantic and completely, boringly practical. In the early days of our marriage, it went something like, “What the …? You got me a Crock-Pot for Christmas?!?”

It was not exactly a proud moment on my part. Neither was asking, “Hello? You actually bought me a CAKE MIX for my birthday?!?”

Then there was the vacuum, a gift for which occasion I now have forgotten. It’s funny how things can stay the same, yet completely change. Let me back up a few months:

Starting with Mother’s Day. I could not believe it when my sweetheart got me an electronic dog fence. For two days we hacked through the woods — in the rain — to get it installed. I almost cried I was so happy.

Now our fur child would be able to roam the yard without constant supervision. No more worries about her running out into the road. Then, as if he could have topped that, for my birthday I got a brand-new stove. The old one had quit months previously and I was using something akin to an Easy-Bake Oven. I’d never been so thrilled to make a casserole.

Plugged In: Zooming in on affordable lens quality

Photo contest

Remember our first Redoubt Reporter photo contest. Photos must be taken on the Kenai Peninsula with a “Fall on the Kenai” theme. The deadline is Nov. 1. Email JPEGs to: redoubtreporterphotos@gmail.com. You can find all of the rules and requirements at www.redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/redoubt-reporter-photo-contest/.

We’ll publish some of our favorite entries from time to time and choose some for the monthlong June 2012 Redoubt Reporter exhibition at the Sterling Highway Kaladi Brothers coffee shop.

By Joe Kashi, for the Redoubt Reporter

Digital cameras are introduced in a blaze of publicity but are soon replaced, mostly because imaging sensors and electronics continue to improve rapidly.

Quality, interchangeable lenses, on the other hand, are mature products. They’re likely to be used for decades on a series of improved camera bodies. Because even the best camera body, with a gazillion megapixels, is only as good as the lens attached to it, it pays to choose wisely.

That’s why we’ve spent several issues examining every type of interchangeable lens. Now, it’s time to complete the circle by looking at some good-quality telephoto zoom lenses, preferably affordable ones. You might say that a once-distant end is in sight. We’ve found some very good telephoto zoom lenses at relatively low prices. It’s worth noting, though, that good lenses require highly precise, complex manufacture, and hence are rarely cheap.